Baby Name Banner

I love that in this particular stage of life our circle of friends have started buying houses and making babies. However, it does feel odd coming to the realization that we all graduated from college years ago. Our conversations now include talking about retirement, educational options for future children, and house repairs. Funny how spend our childhood wishing we were that much older...now we'd be more than happy with time talking a much slower route :).

Expanding families are my favorite though. Nothing is more special than a family welcoming their child into the world. Such exciting change! With each shower gift I like to add a personal touch. So many baby items can feel so generic and engulfed in boring plastic. So, when I discovered my friend was having a baby girl, I knew the exact personalized project I wanted to make. The best part is that it is fairly simple to complete. and can be personalized in any way that you desire. Let's get started!

Materials

- Material                 - Scissors
- Ribbon                   - Triangle pattern
- Lace                       - Letter pattern
- Felt                        - Sewing machine
- Glue gun                - Iron

Begin by making a triangle pattern. I copied one off of Google into Word and stretched it until I had the size I wanted. I would recommend starting big so you have adequate room for each letter and the trim on the top of the banner. Once your pattern is cut out of paper, fold your material in half and cut out as many triangles as you have letters.

To save on material, cut the triangles as shown below. I ended up cutting out eight triangles (sixteen total pieces). Six were used for her name, and two for decoration. 

   

 

Take a triangle and flip it so the material you want on the outside is facing in. Sew each side straight down, overlapping at the point. Trim any excess.

                          

           

           

When your triangles are finished, flip them inside out and iron them flat. Line them up and trim the tops so they are all the exact same size and any rough edges are removed. 

In the same way that you created the triangle pattern, do the same thing for the letters of the name. Once you have printed them out, carefully cut them out of felt. I chose felt for this project because it is sturdier than normal fabric, and it looks better glued. Once the letters are cut out, glue them on the triangles. Make sure to leave at least an inch at the top for the ribbon.

    

    

Measure the length of the ribbon you want to use and pin it to the triangles. Make sure the ribbon is wide enough for it to cover both sides. I didn't want to go through the aggravation of folding the ribbon over and sewing it all together since it is a pain to make sure all three layers stay perfect. So I cheated and only sewed the side you see. When I finished sewing the one side I hot glued the rest of the ribbon on the back. Much easier and it looks practically the same :).

   

     
   
     

For the ends I made lace flowers using this tutorial. I glued them in place as well. Happy crafting!

Life Changes: New House Edition!

I'm not sure exactly when we decided to look for a house, but I remember that we both seemed to come to the idea simultaneously. It just felt right. Coming from two first born children that says a lot. It always seems that when one of us is sure of something, the other one is always there to play devils advocate. Of course by the time the other is convinced, the one who came up with the original idea is back over to the other side. Ha! Please tell me we aren't the only ones who do this?

Anyway, back in May we decided to quietly start looking. No fuss, no Realtor, no high hopes. We worked on getting pre-approved and started perusing houses in our area, simply getting a feel for the neighborhoods. We were really specific in the list of things we wanted, and we were willing to wait. Honestly, I think we both thought it would take awhile to find something. After signing up for a multiple listing service (best house hunting tool ever!) we looked at several. Nothing even remotely came close to what we wanted. Several weeks later we saw a new one listed. The caption said "A perfect 10!" We laughed at the sales pitch, but figured we'd give it a try. Two hours later we had both fallen in love! It was perfect! Sure it had it's quirks and drawbacks, but we loved it. In August we were handed the keys, walked over the threshold, and promptly got dripped on in the living room ceiling...but that's a story for another day. Now we are loving owning our own home! One of those aspects of adulthood that just feels better than we ever dreamed. Two months later we still look at each other across the dining room table and say "Wow, we are eating dinner in OUR house!" Could it get any better? I dare say not :)

Now it is time for some DIY! I am more than ready :)